Hello! I’m pleased to welcome you to JuliaPalooza for one of two Blog Tour stops today: The Suspects by Katharine Johnson is published later this week by Crooked Cat Books.
About the book
Shallow Grave meets The Secret History in this quirky psychological thriller
Bristol, 1988. Five young graduates on the threshold of their careers buy a house together in order to get a foot on the property ladder before prices spiral out of their reach. But it soon becomes the house share from hell.
After their New Year’s Eve party, they discover a body – and it’s clear they’ll be the first suspects. As each of them has a good reason from their past not to trust the police, they come up with a solution – one which forces them into a life of secrets and lies. But can they trust each other?
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The Suspects is an interesting and easy read. Set in the late 1980s, the central characters like to play Scruples in their spare time, but what will they do when faced with their own, real-life dilemma?
Katharine Johnson’s story opens with a gruesome news report and an intriguing prologue, which introduces the characters well. The rest of the first part fills in some of the characters’ backgrounds and sets the scene nicely.
After the discovery of the body, they develop their ill-advised plan and there are some dramatic scenes, but I did find parts of the middle to be slightly slow as the characters’ constant self-recriminations were a bit repetitive.
The final part definitely upped the ante and pace though, with several twists, turns and revelations. Each time you think you’ve got the solution, another layer raises its head!
The book is very well-written and overall the ending was satisfying, although I did have a couple of questions left. There are some good flashes of 80s nostalgia and the final scenes were hopeful and uplifting.
With thanks to Crooked Cat Books for my copy of the book and to Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the Blog Tour.
If you enjoyed my review, please consider liking and/or sharing and, of course, buying the book: Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US
About the author
Katharine Johnson was born in Bristol and now lives in Berkshire. She’s worked as a journalist on lots of magazines and has written a history book about Windsor.
When not writing you’ll usually find her with a book in one hand and a coffee in the other, restoring a house in Italy, walking her spaniel or playing netball (although not usually at the same time.)
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Crooked Cat Books @crookedcatbooks
About the Blog Tour
Please check out the rest of the great bloggers on the tour for The Suspects:
juliapalooza.com 